Pentagon: Drones that attacked Khmeimim airbase made from materials available on open market

Tuesday, January 9, 2018 9:00:11 AM

The technology and devices that were used by militants to attack the Russian Khmeimim Airbase in Syria are “easily accessible on the open market,” Adrian Rankin-Galloway, a representative of the Pentagon, told RIA Novosti.

“We’ve seen the Islamic State use this kind of technology,” he said, adding that “these devices and this technology can be easily purchased on the open market…and this is cause for concern,” Rankin-Galloway said.

The fact that Russian soldiers, on the night of January 5th, managed to prevent an unmanned attack on the Khmeimim Airbase became known two days ago. On January 8th, this information was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry. The department described the incident as “a mass attack of militants using unmanned aerial vehicles.” At the same time, “engineering solutions” used by terrorists “could be obtained only from one of the countries that have advanced technological capabilities to provide satellite navigation and remote control to drop professionally assembled improvised explosive devices on designated coordinates,” the ministry said.

Deputy Head of the Defense Committee of the Russian Federation Council Frants Klintsevich later said that, in his opinion, there are indications that U.S. intelligence was behind the drone attack on Russian military facilities in Syria.